On July 10 the CFTC Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC) held its second meeting of 2023. In her opening statement, CFTC Commissioner Kristin N. Johnson noted “both the promise and peril of the current market structures adopted in cryptocurrency or digital asset markets.” She voiced support for a formal rulemaking process to evaluate risks associated with certain crypto clearing activities.

In a conversation with CNBC, former SEC Chair Jay Clayton discussed crypto regulation, stating that approval of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund may be “hard to resist.”

A coalition of Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and SEC Chair Gary Gensler asking them to open investigations into potential ties between crypto firm Prometheum Inc. and the Chinese Communist Party.

On July 7 U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman denied the request from Binance to send to arbitration or dismiss a proposed class action filed by investors accusing the crypto exchange business of turning a blind eye to money laundering and terrorist financing on its platform.

In a recent filing, the SEC claimed that Coinbase was aware of a potential securities breach when it listed some cryptocurrencies, pushing back against Coinbase’s argument that it was not aware of violating securities laws.

Former SEC Chair Jay Clayton and former CFTC Chair Timothy Massad argued, in a recent article published in the Wall Street Journal, that there are better approaches for regulating cryptocurrencies than litigation. Instead, they proposed increased cooperation between the SEC and CFTC, stating that the two agencies should jointly develop basic investor and market protection standards for trading platforms.

U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe ordered crypto trading platform Coinseed to pay $424,000 in penalties for allegedly failing to register their native token with the SEC.

Investigators at the CFTC concluded that bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network misled investors and should have registered with the agency.

On July 6 the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the SWIFT international payments system, and several private sector partners released a report finding that blockchain technology could be used to develop a near-instant 24-hour global payment system using US dollars. The findings were the result of a 12-week experiment exploring the practical, technical, and legal viability of a wholesale US central bank digital currency and shared ledger technology.